Experts
As an aircraft engineer, I often cringe when I see a movie with basic errors about aircraft. For instance, in one movie the hero manages to get from a pressurised fuselage to the undercarriage and then leap off into the sea. Let’s face it entering water at speed, or from a height, is always going to hurt, which is why I don’t water-ski. I have orifices in my body that are not designed for 40mph water, let alone 180mph from 300 feet.
Anyway, I digress. The point is, there seems to be a lack of understanding and knowledge when it comes to aircraft.
Supposing you see a stagecoach in a western, you wouldn’t expect it to sound like a steam locomotive. Nor would you expect a tram-car to sound like an eighteen-wheel truck. And yet we are often subjected to the sound of piston engines when shown a jet-liner, or the rotors slowing down to allow a helicopter to land. (I can assure you slowing down the rotors while in the air will get you to the ground, but not a method I would recommend, unless you like hospital food, or permanent residency in a small wooden box). Sometimes the aircraft takes off as a four engined jet, and lands with just two. We bolt them on better than that.
Just yesterday I saw an image from Fox News describing the H-53E Super Stallion helicopter as the largest and most powerful military helicopter in the United States. Fine so far, but the next line on the screen had me rolling around. Apparently it is capable of lifting an aircraft carrier.
Now if you have ever seen a US aircraft carrier, you will know there are smaller continents. When one of these sails past it’s like watching continental drift.Yet an aviation ‘expert’ on a news channel will have us believe they can be lifted by a helicopter. Either these aircraft carriers are made of tissue paper or somebody got it wrong.
Why on earth are these ‘facts’ not checked before publishing? If I was to write something similar in a novel, I would be torn to shreds, and rightly so. Now we have an entire nation believing a helicopter can lift the Isle of Wight.
So please, Hollywood and the media, next time you make a film, or write an article, employ someone who knows their ASTA from their Elbit.
As an aircraft engineer, I often cringe when I see a movie with basic errors about aircraft. For instance, in one movie the hero manages to get from a pressurised fuselage to the undercarriage and then leap off into the sea. Let’s face it entering water at speed, or from a height, is always going to hurt, which is why I don’t water-ski. I have orifices in my body that are not designed for 40mph water, let alone 180mph from 300 feet.
Anyway, I digress. The point is, there seems to be a lack of understanding and knowledge when it comes to aircraft.
Supposing you see a stagecoach in a western, you wouldn’t expect it to sound like a steam locomotive. Nor would you expect a tram-car to sound like an eighteen-wheel truck. And yet we are often subjected to the sound of piston engines when shown a jet-liner, or the rotors slowing down to allow a helicopter to land. (I can assure you slowing down the rotors while in the air will get you to the ground, but not a method I would recommend, unless you like hospital food, or permanent residency in a small wooden box). Sometimes the aircraft takes off as a four engined jet, and lands with just two. We bolt them on better than that.
Just yesterday I saw an image from Fox News describing the H-53E Super Stallion helicopter as the largest and most powerful military helicopter in the United States. Fine so far, but the next line on the screen had me rolling around. Apparently it is capable of lifting an aircraft carrier.
Now if you have ever seen a US aircraft carrier, you will know there are smaller continents. When one of these sails past it’s like watching continental drift.Yet an aviation ‘expert’ on a news channel will have us believe they can be lifted by a helicopter. Either these aircraft carriers are made of tissue paper or somebody got it wrong.
Why on earth are these ‘facts’ not checked before publishing? If I was to write something similar in a novel, I would be torn to shreds, and rightly so. Now we have an entire nation believing a helicopter can lift the Isle of Wight.
So please, Hollywood and the media, next time you make a film, or write an article, employ someone who knows their ASTA from their Elbit.
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